Resolving backlog in granting land use right certificates

Strengthening direction

The issuance of land use right and house ownership certificates to households and individuals is an issue of particular concern to the public and the people. This is an issue that has generated many petitions, recommendations, and reflections to all levels, sectors, and forums for voters to meet with elected representatives.

To properly assess the current situation and find solutions, on September 28, 2021, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council held a session to explain the situation of granting certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights and assets attached to land in the province. After the session, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council issued a Notice of Conclusion, in which it requested the Provincial People's Committee to develop a plan to completely resolve the backlog in granting certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights and assets attached to land in cases of land allocation without proper authority, not in accordance with planning, in old collective housing areas, apartment buildings, villas, townhouses, etc.

Leaders of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and professional staff reviewed land use planning for locations of works and projects in the province. Photo: Mai Hoa

On that basis, the Provincial People's Committee has directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to coordinate with the district level to review and count cases of households and individuals using residential land but have not been granted land use certificates, as a basis for advising the Provincial People's Committee on a plan to resolve the backlog.

The review results show that the whole province has about 47,653 cases that have not been granted land use right certificates. Of which, 14,630 cases are land allocations beyond authority; 820 cases are in collective housing areas; 31,623 cases are land allocations that are not in accordance with planning, apartments, villas, townhouses in urban projects... The most outstanding cases are in Con Cuong district with 7,595 cases; Tan Ky 5,067 cases; Tuong Duong 3,739 cases; Do Luong 3,081 cases; Yen Thanh 2,803 cases...

Based on the review results, on December 30, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 815/KH-UBND on resolving the backlog in granting land use right certificates, house ownership rights and assets attached to land in the province. Accordingly, the goal is to ensure that by December 31, 2022, at least 80% of the outstanding land use right certificates are granted to district-level People's Committees. For the Land Registration Office, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment strives to grant 65 - 80% of the outstanding land use right certificates to cases in real estate business projects (there are about 2,886 apartments and 4,330 adjacent residential plots and villas that have not been granted land use right certificates).

Implementing Plan No. 815/KH-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has issued many documents directing, urging, and guiding the District People's Committees and the Provincial Land Registration Office to implement. During the implementation process, any problems are summarized, counted, and reported to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for handling instructions.

At the district level, plans are issued, steering committees and working groups are established; specific targets for granting certificates are assigned to each commune. Some units organize online conferences or train and provide direct guidance to Party Secretaries, People's Committee Chairmen, commune-level civil servants, to the blocks, hamlets and people on policies at all levels to bring the entire political system and people into action.

Officers of the Land Registration Office conduct field surveys to serve the issuance of land use right certificates in industrial parks. Photo: Mai Hoa

Some localities have also developed a set of sample documents for granting certificates so that the establishments can easily guide people to do it, such as Yen Thanh district; and organized direct work with some establishments with large backlogs, such as Vinh city. Accordingly, at the commune level, plans are also developed, assigning specific volumes, roadmaps, and progress of resolution, assigning responsibilities to each organization and individual.

The Provincial Land Registration Office has also issued a decision to assign implementation targets to 21/21 District-level Land Registration Office branches, assigning responsibility to the Branch Directors. At the same time, Official Dispatch No. 397/VPĐK-ĐK&CGCN dated March 17, 2022 was sent to investors of real estate business projects in the whole province, preparing data and documents to serve the investigation and handling work according to plan.

Initial movement

Mr. Hoang Quoc Viet - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment affirmed: The work of granting certificates of land use rights and house ownership rights to households and individuals has long been a key task, regularly implemented by the sector. And after the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council organized a briefing session and the Provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 815/KH-UBND with the requirement to focus on resolving certificates of land use rights and house ownership rights for outstanding cases; the Department of Natural Resources and Environment considers this a key topic in 2021 and 2022 to focus on. Therefore, in the past time, the Department has directed, guided, and accompanied the districts to deploy and promptly remove difficulties; the district level has accompanied and removed difficulties for the commune level, mobilizing the entire political system to participate.

The Hung Nguyen District Land Registration Office Branch implements "Saturday and Sunday for the people" to process applications for granting Land Use Right Certificates to people. Photo: Mai Hoa

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment also promotes administrative reform; assigns responsibility to the Provincial Land Registration Office to strengthen surprise inspections of public services at district-level branches, resolutely and seriously handle cadres, civil servants and employees in the Land Registration Office system who violate public ethics and cause trouble for the people when handling work. Assigns the Directors of office branches to recommend the People's Committees at the district level to handle commune and district-level cadres if violations or harassment occur; continues to establish working groups to localities to remove difficulties and obstacles and supervise the issuance and reissuance of land use certificates.

To ensure the good implementation of the task of granting land use right certificates, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also requires the Provincial Land Registration Office and district-level branches to strengthen the dissemination of land law, maintain "Saturdays for the people, Sundays for the people" sessions to go directly to the grassroots, blocks, hamlets, villages, and communes to disseminate the law, provide guidance on preparing documents and registering land changes, etc.

As a result, from October 2021 to March 31, 2022, the whole province has granted the first land use right certificates for 6,597 land use right certificates (including rural residential land, urban residential land, agricultural land, forestry land); granted 788 land use right certificates/2,886 apartments that have not been granted land use right certificates in apartment projects; granted 695 land use right certificates/4,330 land plots adjacent to houses and villas that have not been granted land plots in projects of adjacent houses and villas.

In addition to initial movements, some localities still have difficulties and problems. Mr. Thai Huu An - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Thanh district said: Yen Thanh currently has 2,803 outstanding cases that have not been granted certificates and it is very difficult to resolve them, because the remaining cases are very "boney", outstanding due to history. For example, many cases are subject to land allocation without proper authority but there is no basis to prove that financial obligations have been fulfilled. Many cases of land exchange for the commune to build welfare works such as schools, roads, lakes, dams, markets, etc., but currently there are no regulations to handle them, but there are only regulations to handle cases of land exchange for cultural houses. Many cases of land use are due to transfer, donation, or donation, but the donor is not currently living in the locality or has passed away, so it is also difficult to implement.

Officials from the Land Registration Office directly go to the grassroots to resolve difficulties in granting land use right certificates to people. Photo: Mai Hoa

Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Vinh City also reflected that there are currently nearly 2,000 pending cases in the city. The most difficult problem is that communes merged into the city, there are many cases of land granted beyond authority, changing the area and boundaries too large compared to the cadastral map. Many cases have not completed the procedures and documents and implemented civil agreements of family members. Some plots of land have not yet built houses, the landowners do not live in the area to declare the documents... Regarding the case of land granted beyond authority before without documents, the procedures also make it difficult to issue certificates...

The above issues need to be further studied by the province to resolve or make recommendations to the Central Government for handling. Only then can the proposal of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and the plan of the Provincial People's Committee be effectively implemented.

Plum Blossom